Education, Arts and Sports in Prison
Facilities for education and the arts in prison are provided by the Prison Education Service, which consists of a partnership between the Irish Prison Service and a range of educational agencies from the community.
A number of programmes are co-funded by the Arts Council of Ireland, including the Writers in Prison scheme and the Visual artists in prisons scheme. Some information about the Prison Education Service is available on the IPS website.
News and media items on arts (music, drama, visual art) and sports in prison are included below.
Image taken from a gallery of artwork by prisoners.
Irish Times: Prisoners take time out to sit Junior and Leaving Cert exams
9th June 2011
Nearly 280 prisoners will take this year's State examinations in hopes to better themselves and their futures.
Update: Transformed Through Dance Event
21st April 2011
On 15 April 2011, Create, in partnership with Dance Ireland and Dublin Dance Festival, hosted 'Transformed Through Dance', an in conversation event with Nikki Crane, Advisor to Dance United, an organisation that pro-actively works with young people at risk of (re)offending.
Arts and Prisons: Transformed Through Dance
15th April 2011
Create, in partnership with Dance Ireland and Dublin Dance Festival, host 'Transformed Through Dance', an in conversation event with Nikki Crane, Advisor to Dance United, an organisation that pro-actively works with young people at risk of (re)offending.
Exhibition in London Explores Female Offenders' Experiences of Justice
10th March 2011
Artwork displayed in the exhibition 'Girls Behind Bars: Female Experiences of Justice' captures the lives of female prisoners and their experiences with the criminal justice system.
Scotland: 'Inspiring Change' through arts in prisons
2nd March 2011
'Inspiring Change' is a co-ordinated programme of arts interventions that ran in five Scottish prisons throughout 2010.
(UK) Big Garden Birdwatch: More than 60 prisoners to take part this year
23rd January 2011
(UK) More than 60 prisoners will take part in the world’s biggest national bird watch as part of a Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) scheme to get more inmates interested in nature.
Shakespeare in HMP Maghaberry
14th September 2010
The Educational Shakespeare Company, which worked with prisoners at Belfast's Maghaberry prison, has released the DVD 'Mickey B', a powerful adaptation of Shakespeare's play Macbeth which could prove an important resource for use with young people.
Guardian: Life in America's toughest jail
1st September 2010
Shaun Attwood's blog about the appalling conditions that he experienced in an American prison has earned him a major book deal. Erwin James compares his experience of the British prison system.
US: Reading courses as an alternative to prison
21st July 2010
In Texas, offenders are being sent on reading courses instead of going to prison.
Guardian: Prison library helps to transport lives
7th July 2010
The recently refurbished library in Edinburgh was yesterday named winner of the 2010 UK Libraries Change Lives Award. The Governor of the prison, Nigel Ironside, believes prisoners engaging in literacy and basic learning will provide an incentive to reduce re-offending.
